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Alfista88
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Not as bad as Stefan's example posted earlier, but adding this as another data point. I'm in agreement that the ratio of ads to forum content (80% ad space, 20% content in seen in this screenshot?) is off-putting to guests, who might be just discovering and visiting OF for the first time.

I would've never bothered signing up and creating an account if this was my first user experience when accessing OF : (

Screen Shot 2021-02-22 at 6.46.53 PM.png
 
JwRosenthal
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Alfista88 Alfista88
Not as bad as Stefan's example posted earlier, but adding this as another data point. I'm in agreement that the ratio of ads to forum content (80% ad space, 20% content in seen in this screenshot?) is off-putting to guests, who might be just discovering and visiting OF for the first time.

I would've never bothered signing up and creating an account if this was my first user experience when accessing OF : (

Screen Shot 2021-02-22 at 6.46.53 PM.png
Oh my- that is offensive. I’m sure mods will sort it out shortly. There have been a few layout changes in the past few days so they are clearly working on it.
 
dsio
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Alfista88 Alfista88
Not as bad as Stefan's example posted earlier, but adding this as another data point. I'm in agreement that the ratio of ads to forum content (80% ad space, 20% content in seen in this screenshot?) is off-putting to guests, who might be just discovering and visiting OF for the first time.

I would've never bothered signing up and creating an account if this was my first user experience when accessing OF : (

Screen Shot 2021-02-22 at 6.46.53 PM.png
That one that page is about the worst case scenario and only if you have a vertically narrow viewport and scroll down until the header ad takes up the top of the view. We're still making changes and improvements but there's a balancing act we have to do and some pages are more difficult than others. If the window is scrolled down slightly to the content and you have a full sized screen rather than a narrow box it looks like this:

Screen Shot 2021-02-23 at 1.28.57 pm.png
 
Alfista88
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408
Yes, keep up the good work! I'm sure you'll find that right balance. On the plus side, the mobile experience has already improved since last Wednesday. Here's a screenshot I took while browsing OF on my phone last week.

On an iPhone's safari's browser, from February 17 🤔:

IMG_1758.PNG


It's definitely improved since then!
 
rob#1
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LOL - this is my home page, 1 or 2 threads. And I’m insulted, I’m not a senior!
5CEDB2A1-B4CF-47BB-99B4-DED0248F0130.png
 
Passover
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Glad I did the upgrade those ads started getting on my nerves 😀
 
pianomankd
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This site is unusable with all these ads. I can’t understand why they need to flood the pages with them. Imagine a first time visitor to this forum? They’d be gone in two clicks!
 
LuckyLes
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I have to say that the upgrade is worthwhile. I ummed and ahhed for a while and was starting to become frustrated. The watch offer from wagudc tipped me over to an upgrade. I was on the verge of doing it when the offer came up. I must agree with pianomankd, it would be very offputting for a visitor.
LuckyLes
 
Syrte
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LuckyLes LuckyLes
I must agree with pianomankd, it would be very offputting for a visitor.
LuckyLes

Personally, I think that’s ok. People should deserve the info they get with a little bit of effort — and there are way too many free riders. Let them be put off.
 
LuckyLes
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I have noticed in the short time I have been here that there are a lot of "how much is my watch worth and is it original?" posts from people with 1 0r 2 posts.
I am only a newcomer, but I am learning slowly.
 
Syrte
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LuckyLes LuckyLes
I have noticed in the short time I have been here that there are a lot of "how much is my watch worth and is it original?" posts from people with 1 0r 2 posts.
I am only a newcomer, but I am learning slowly.

Those are not the people I’m talking about.
They’re not asking for something complicated, I’m sure the vast majority of them just comes once because they get one watch from a relative and they’re curious.
The real free riders are the ones who trade in watches for profit or investors who come here on a regular basis without contributing, in order to do research, follow trends which will allow them to price and invest, and to buy from collectors prime quality watches they will flip for a profit.
Those individuals are not breaking any law, some may be nice people and even may be sharing knowledge with their friends or in other settings — but if they cannot bear to see a few ads to help finance the goose with the golden eggs it’s their choice.
Edited:
 
dsio
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Syrte Syrte
Those are not the people I’m talking about.
They’re not asking for something complicated, I’m sure the vast majority of them just comes once because they get one watch from a relative and they’re curious.
The real free riders are the ones who trade in watches for profit or investors who come here on a regular basis without contributing, in order to do research, follow trends which will allow them to price and invest, and to buy from collectors prime quality watches they will flip for a profit.
Those individuals are not breaking any law, some may be nice people and even may be sharing knowledge with their friends or in other settings — but if they cannot bear to see a few ads to help finance the goose with the golden eggs it’s their choice.
When those guys become car-boot watch dealers and decide to hang a shingle it creates a real pain for us because they don’t act like normal dealers and create nothing but problems. To make good money dealing watches you need plenty of capital, plenty of stock, plenty of knowledge and plenty of volume, that lets you absorb the occasional loss without it bothering you and you make a small amount from each watch.

The side hustle watch dealers have a small amount of money and a small amount of stock, so they pretend to be civilians, they do part repairs instead of servicing watches, they try to create extreme arbitrage opportunities for themselves and when things go wrong they try to make the loss the customers fault irrespective of the issue. Then there are guys like Alex (banned) who take it even further and “call dibs” on watches other people own, shop them around to people by PM and then try to make a deal without any risk to them by sitting in the middle between the buyer and seller without even holding the stock. That didn’t go well when it unraveled.
 
STANDY
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We have seen a few members over the years get the greed bug as they went from enthused collector to pseudo dealer.

Forget who the member was years ago that wanted to maximise profits here so he got better watches for himself “I over price them to see what I can get”
 
Syrte
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dsio dsio
The side hustle watch dealers .... do part repairs instead of servicing watches.
We’ve seen instances with presumably more established dealers unfortunately.

STANDY STANDY
Forget who the member was years ago that wanted to maximise profits here so he got better watches for himself “I over price them to see what I can get”

I might have to do the same with one watch that lends itself to it — except I haven’t brought myself to part with it just yet. 😁::stirthepot::
 
DaveK
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Another forum I’m on has “members only” auctions from time to time, kind of like their own private EBay, but with a good atmosphere. Very low tech, you bid with a post so all is public
 
riimar
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370
Many thanks for keeping the forum up and running, for all these years 😀

After reading some of the comments, i thought this picture might be appropiate. A joke from my side 😁

OF ADMINS 2020 vs 2021
Just off the coast of Cayman Islands
 
ZomboDroid 26022021150805.jpg
Darlinboy
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Dear OF,

I went to purchase a subscription gift for someone today, but only see the “tier 2” option.

I don’t care enough about the member to spend $100! 🤮

Whatever shall I do! 😕

Sincerely,

Confused in OF

EA7AB79E-1E96-48B1-B284-75AA38AD8C3F.jpeg


@dsio
 
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